Trust
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: AU oneshot. In the final battle Robin betrays Regina. Once it's over she feels she can't trust anyone. She storms off alone and ends up in a life/death situation. When she needs to most can she trust again? A Swan Queen story.


_Summary: AU oneshot. In the final battle Robin betrays Regina. Once it's over she feels she can't trust anyone. She storms off alone and ends up in a life/death situation. When she needs to most can she trust again? A Swan Queen story. _

Regina storms away feeling her heart beat wildly in her chest. She got it back but at the cost of betrayal. She really thought she could trust him. He told her she was his second chance. He swore he would help her get her heart back. He told her so many things and she believed them all.

She believed him.

Right up until that moment in the battle with Zelena when he turned to her with a false apology and tried to take her to her sister. She thought she could trust him and he returned that trust by handing her over to the witch to get his wife back. She understands his motivations. He wanted to fix his family. When he told her he was her second chance, she thought he meant her chance to be happy. It turns out he meant a chance to get his wife back.

She trusted him. She believed in him and all it did was cause her pain.

_So much for soulmates _she thinks bitterly. She saw that tattoo and thought maybe it meant something, maybe it meant she could find happiness since. Without her heart it was easier to take that leap and try.

Without her heart she was able to push aside the thoughts of who she really wanted.

She wanted Emma and Henry. But he had no memories and she was constantly being pursued by the pirate so Regina thought she had no chance. She thought that if she couldn't have then then she may as well try and find happiness elsewhere. With Robin she finally thought maybe someone could love her.

_Henry does_ she reminds herself. She still has her son. She broke the curse with true love's kiss which means he loves her as much as she loves him. She has her son and yet she still feels thoroughly miserable. For the first time since Daniel she opened herself up to the possibility of love only for it to backfire. She really tried to trust this time, she really did and all she ended up with was a handful of tainted memories.

She can hear footsteps following her but she's in no mood for company. Right now she just needs to be alone.

* * *

Emma frowns watching Regina storm off. She knew something was off with Robin. She felt it in her gut but she kept quiet. She kept silent because she could see Regina was happy. For the sake of Regina's happiness she kept quiet about a lot of things; her suspicion about Robin, her own feelings for Regina, and how seeing Regina with Robin was like a punch in the gut.

She knows what it's like to trust someone and see them hurt you. Neal did the same. He swept her off her feet and then left her resulting in her imprisonment. She wanted to trust Hook, then he disregarded her as a mother and put Henry in danger. She knows what it's like to trust and wind up being betrayed. It's like a punch in the heart. An ache that only continues to hurt until you convince yourself trust isn't worth it.

Emma knows now that she had been trusting the wrong people.

She knows she can trust her parents and her son. She has friends she can trust. Most of all she knows she can trust Regina. With Regina her lie detector is never wrong. She hadn't realised what that meant until she came back to Storybrooke. Then she saw Regina again and like that she knew.

She never told Regina the truth about how she felt. She couldn't. She wanted to but she couldn't. She couldn't because she knew how much it would hurt Regina to be around her and the son who didn't remember her. Then Regina lost her heart.

The thing is she knows why Regina went for Robin. She thought that upon seeing the tattoo that Robin might be a chance for happiness and with the threat of losing her future she wanted to grab that while she could. What hurt is she took that chance with him. What pains Emma even more is that Regina was brave enough to take that chance and only got hurt.

She needs to make sure Regina's okay and so she runs after her.

* * *

Regina tugs her coat closer as she stalks through the forest. She can feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. She doesn't care. _Everyone will be too busy celebrating to come looking for me anyway_ she thinks miserably. They're her family and deep down she knows she should be celebrating with them. Part of her wants to. Part of her wants to be with them all cooing over Snow's new baby and looking forward to the future. Yet she keeps picturing the moment Robin betrayed her. She can feel the ache in her heart at knowing she trusted only to be made a fool.

She walks forward not even looking at where she's going. Regina vaguely recognises the area as where she took Emma on their magic lesson but right now she's not paying enough attention. She keeps walking feeling the cool forest air whip at her cheeks.

_Maybe no-one could ever love me _she thinks, _no-one but Henry._

So wrapped up in her thoughts she doesn't notice herself reaching the end of the cliff. She yelps as she loses her footing sending herself tumbling over the edge. On instinct she clutches at the wall until her hand lands on a loose piece of rope.

Regina looks down seeing the forest swim below her. She knows she wouldn't survive such a drop. Everything feels too sharp. She can feel the rock scraping at her wrists and against her cheek as she clings tight to that bit of rope which she prays can hold her up long enough. She can feel the sharp stillness of the air and the silence reminding her no-one else is around.

She shuts her eyes and tries to summon her magic but nothing comes. She used too much in the fight with Zelena. Her magic needs time to recover. She just hopes it doesn't need too much time.

"Regina?" She looks up at the sound in surprise not expecting anyone to have followed her.

* * *

Emma frowns as she walks up the path. She knows Regina came up this way. She can see the other woman's boot prints marking the soil. She also knows that all that's up here is a ravine since they destroyed the bridge last week.

"Regina?" she calls out worriedly upon hearing a yelp.

She walks up to the edge frowning as she sees nothing but what's left of the bridge, "Regina?" she tries again. She scans the area seeing nothing and then she hears a small plea, "Help me."

She kneels down cautiously looking for the source of the sound. Her heart drops as she sees Regina dangling perilously over the edge by just that far too thin thread of rope. "Shit," she mutters under her breath as she prays that rope holds. _Please just let her hang on _she pleads, her heart plummeting at the mere thought of losing the brunette.

"Regina," she calls out, "Can you poof yourself up?" she asks. It's a dumb question and she knows it. She knows if Regina had magic she would have used it. She knows her own magic has been worn down by the fight and as much as she tries to channel it, it just won't come. _Damn it. Right when I need it to work most it has to be worn down because of some wicked witch. _

"No. My magic needs time. Yours?" Regina asks hopefully.

Emma shakes her head with a small frown before looking at the rope. _You've pulled up heavier things than Regina. You can do this Emma. You can save her. _

"Regina I'm going to try and pull you up."

Regina stares up at her fearfully, "What if it's not strong enough? What if you drop me?"

Emma frowns, "I'm not going to drop you I promise. Regina, I know right now you think that trusting someone only gets you hurt and that you never want to trust anyone again but you can. You trusted the wrong person. I know what that's like. I know how it hurts but trust is worth it. When you trust the right person it is so worth it. I promise you, you can trust me. Trust me Regina. Please just trust me to save you."

Regina looks down at the sheer drop before her before back up at Emma. She shuts her eyes chewing her lip as images assault her. _Emma saving her from the fire. Emma stopping the town from killing her after the curse broke. Emma saving her from the wraith. Emma and her stopping the trigger. Emma stopping her from taking a lost boy's heart to spare her from any more darkness. Emma waking her after she touched the scroll and saw the curse she had to cast. Emma believing in her. Emma helping her today, the pair of them using their magic to counteract Zelena's spell and render her powerless. _

She takes a deep breath knowing what all those images mean, what all those things tell her. "Okay," she says looking up and meeting Emma's eyes, "Okay."

Emma nods before slowly tugging on the rope to pull the other woman up. Regina is a few inches from the edge when she feels the rope start to loosen even further. "Emma!" she cries out in warning. Emma stops pulling at Regina's frantic shout, "What is it?"

"It's unravelling," Regina says staring intently at the fraying threads just above her.

"Shit," Emma curses as she keeps the rope in her hand without pulling. She scoots even closer to the edge before judging the distance, "Regina let go of the rope."

"Are you crazy?" Regina asks.

"Let go of the rope and take my hand," Emma says holding out her hand out for Regina to take.

"And you won't drop me?"

"When I have ever?" Emma asks, "Come on please just take my hand."

Regina can feel her own breath picking up in panic before she looks up at Emma. She sees what she always sees. She sees concern, care, love though she's tried to pretend that one isn't there, and this time a hint of fear and desperation. She takes another shaky breath before reaching up to take Emma's hand. As she does she lets go of the rope.

She smiles as she feels a hand in her own. When she does she gaps in relief before reaching up to clasp at Emma's hand with her other hand as the blonde tugs her up and back over the edge. She lands on the ground still panting before looking over the edge that could have killed her. She scoots back wincing at the pain in her hands from where they had scraped against rock and clung tight to rope leaving burns.

"Hey" Emma says scooting over to Regina and placing a hand on her shoulder, "You're okay."

Regina nods waiting for her breath to calm down before replying. She turns to Emma with a small smile, "You saved me."

"Did you doubt I would?" Emma asks with a cheeky smile trying to calm her panic over the fact that had this gone massively wrong she could have lost the brunette.

Regina looks at her, "We just used your parents' lines."

"Ew," Emma says, "Okay I'll think of something else…I know…this will sound really sudden and all but here's the thing you could have died and all I can think of is that you could have died without me ever telling you something really important so here goes…I love you. I love you and I can't imagine a world without you in so yeah I will always save you."

"You love me?" Regina asks with a smile.

"I do and I understand that after Robin you probably want nothing to do with love or relationships or anything like that but I had to tell you."

"You're wrong."

"What?"

"I was wrong too. I thought I wanted to be alone but what I really wanted, what I really needed was to be with someone I love, with someone I trust. I trusted Robin and that turned out all wrong but he was the wrong person. When I trust you, you save me. When you look at me you don't see a way to get back to someone else, you see me. I thought I could never be with you. I didn't see a way how. Henry didn't remember and Hook was always hanging around. I always made excuses. It's what I've done my whole life. I don't want to let fear hold me back anymore. I love you. I trust you."

Emma smiles before doing something she's been wanting to do for so long. She pulls Regina in for a slow sweet kiss revelling in the soft feel of her lips and the taste of her kiss. She feels as if she could live in this moment forever but she also knows she wants to have so many more moments.

Regina kisses her back taking her time to explore Emma's lips. She treasures this first kiss. She takes a leap and lets herself fall into this kiss knowing this time it's right. This time she knows she can trust someone with her heart.

_Thanks for reading :) _


End file.
